Pound & Grain was born with a passion for digital, and its ability to strengthen the connection between consumers and brands with things people actually want and need.

How did the partners meet?

We all worked together at a large multi-national agency. We’re thankful for the time we spent there, cutting our teeth on large national and global campaigns with huge budgets. It’s here where we learned that we had a common vision, worked well together, and had strong complimentary skill sets. But it was also where we watched budgets get eaten up in meetings, managing relationships, and slow moving teams. We thought we could build a better mouse trap.

Why Vancouver and Toronto?

We are in Vancouver because it’s our home, and we love it here. It’s a great urban environment, but also very close to mountains, ocean, and a lot of green space, even for geeks like us. There is also amazing talent here, both from a creative and technical perspective.
Our second office in Toronto made a lot of sense for us for many reasons. Several of our regional clients are growing, and have expanded into Toronto. So it made sense for us to follow suit. It’s Canada’s largest city, and the headquarters for most national marketing departments, so it made a lot of sense to be there from a business development and profile perspective.

What is the smartest work you’ve seen in the past year that didn’t come from your shop?

Recently the motion data visualization and infographics in The Fallen of WWII were such a beautiful and important piece of work it knocked us off our chair. The rise of data journalism means you can augment storytelling like never before – turning simple statistics into the story. It also interestingly enough runs counter to the micro content revolution, and the short attention spans of what we’ve been told users want.It’s unapologetically long, and works.

How has the business changed since you started?

We can remember the early days of digital, when digital had to be justified. In those days, more budget was allocated for catering services for the TV commercial shoot than on digital initiatives. It’s nice to see that those times have changed. More recently, the growing shift and blurring lines between product and marketing driven by digital makes it a very exciting time to be an agency.

Where is the best bar in Vancouver and Toronto.

In Vancouver, we are partial to the Greedy Pig. Its our local. In fact, they even put a plaque with our name on our favourite table. In Toronto, we can’t get enough of the coffee and snacks at Bar Buca. The fact that you can occasionally get crazy good buffalo milk lattes along with an insane plate of goat meatballs just around the corner is pretty awesome.

Care to share a joke?

We thought you’d never ask! One of our partners, Graham MacInnes kicks off our weekly Monday Morning all staff with groan worthy “dad” joke. Here’s one that went over really well:

Q: What do you get when you cross an elephant and a rhino? A: El-if-I-know

You can find this ongoing terrible gag on our instagram feed as we post his “jokes” there every Monday. We apologize in advance.

The thrill to start over. Before Koi, I used to have another company called Seagulls Fly for 14 years, much bigger with a great history of success here in Brazil. So after Seagulls closed shop back in 2012, 2 of the 5 former partners (myself and Paulo Visgueiro) decided to open up a new company. From day one Koi started producing a cool variety of work delivering the same high quality Interactive, Broadcast and Print material of Seagulls Fly with basically a smaller cost structure and a more creative oriented team.

How did the partners meet?

In 2005 Paulo joined me at Seagulls Fly as a concept artist and soon became the head of the Concept Art department, a very important area where all the company’s creative jobs were born. Our relationship quickly evolved into a very dynamic work force with synergy that allowed us to spearhead together most of our creative projects. So after a few years of great work he was invited to become the 5th partner of Seagulls Fly.

What is your biggest challenge at the moment?

The biggest challenge of any business, I guess, is to achieve and maintain the balance between always delivering the best work with an inspired team while managing the 3 main pillars which are quality, budget and execution. So we are in constant evaluation of our work, questioning ourselves on how can we do better next time. How our pipeline could be more efficient for a specific kind of project. And also a huge challenge nowadays is to be economically viable and be strong enough to surf all the challenges that we face to operate a business big or small, especially in Brazil’s current economy.

What’s your most interesting case study?

A project we did for TV Globo’s new mini series Amorteamo. ​This work includes handmade textile objects and props, clay sculpted arms and hands, all mixed with a parallax 2D/3D environment and models. The result is very unique and we are really proud of this job. You can see the production process in the Making Of (below).

What advice do you have for agency producers or creatives?

Don’t be afraid to outsource to companies outside your country. It’s good to diversify creatively and the quality standards are just as high as the biggest production houses out there. In different cultures, you get different inspirations and perspectives. Maybe even bring in a new flavor to things.

What is the best thing about working at Koi Factory?

Here at Koi we feel like a group of friends working together. The mood is chill and cozy and the creative directors (myself and Paulo) work side by side with the team. We are part of the work force, we not only direct and produce but are hands on in illustration, animation, editing, coffee­making, etc. We love what we do and when you have that, you see that transcended in the work environment.

Where is the best bar in Rio?

We have a tradition to have our beer day called “Dia do Chopp” once a month in which at the end of our work day we go straight to a bar to drink beer and caipirinhas. Sometimes we go to the “botecos” closest to Koi but we did some of these beers days in Koi’s office and those were the most fun. Once we even did our 1st Horror Beer Festival, where we did a mashup of beer and horror film, so we drunk a lot and screamed a lot.

We recognized the ever-increasing need for agencies to partner with teams that understand all things digital. We’re craftsmen. We’re problem solvers. And love bringing great ideas to life.

How did the partners meet?

We met at Crispin Porter + Bogusky. We were part of the very start of the digital team there, if you can believe it, and built CP+B’s interactive motion team from scratch. We were fortunate to work on some killer projects and developed a working style that’s focused on quality and flawless execution.

Why Boulder?

Boulder is fast becoming a hotbed to an ever-increasingly diverse group of independent creative and technical entrepreneurs; it’s a thriving community that is as supportive as it is collaborative.

What was the first job someone hired you for?

Animating a 3D turkey that danced along NBC’s news ticker during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Who is your most interesting staff member?
When he’s not in the office, Andy can be found dumpster diving for materials he uses in his light fixtures and furniture.

How has the business changed since you started?

Everything. Advertisers are dramatically shifting production dollars from broadcast to digital. Users have increasingly high expectations around what their digital experiences should be. Mobile is dominating.

Quality, craft and innovation are more essential than ever.

What emerging tech trend will have the biggest impact on your business?

As standards based ads continue to gain traction, it opens the doors for us to use a wider range of production tools to create work that is not only cross compatible and versatile, but more effective, entertaining and engaging.

What is your biggest challenge at the moment?

Working with media and account teams to influence their clients to invest in new technologies and more adventurous placements for their ads.